[Content warnings: Explicit sex and blood drinking.]

Chapter 7

A Pretty Distraction

Juniper was placed in a holding cell, left alone with his thoughts. After being dropped off by Ian, who he had learned was the prince’s secretary, he set about feeling his way around the room.

The door was made of thick metal with a small observation window. A single, metal-framed bed took up one corner of the room, and a toilet and sink took the other. Jun could cross the whole space with just a few strides. And like the rest of the building, the floors and walls were cold, hard concrete. At least it seemed clean.

He sat on the bed with a plate of food provided by Ian. He wasn’t sure he could stomach it, but he hadn’t had anything all day aside from his morning tea. It was a hearty sandwich filled with meat, cheese, and vegetables. He nibbled on the bread.

Once he finished what he could, he placed the plate on the bedside table and laid himself down. The mattress was thin, and the scratchy blanket was even thinner. There was no pillow. He longed for his warm and plush comforter back home. His room may have been in the cellar, but his mother did her best to make it comfortable, with cozy blankets and piles of soft and squishy pillows.

His fingers moved to touch his new collar. He remembered when his younger siblings fussed with their first collars. Now he understood the foreign feeling of the entwined metal chilling his skin. There was one disconcerting difference between his collar and those his siblings wore. Juniper’s collar lacked a tag. He wasn’t given his family’s number. The implication filled the boy with deep sorrow.

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he wondered about his family. Were they close by in another cell? Were they together, at least? Jun felt guilty that he hadn’t asked about them and what their punishments might be. He hoped they would be able to go home soon. He would probably never see them again, but if he knew they were alive and on the farm, he could press forward.

So he was to be a bed slave in some capacity? Juniper attempted to wrap his mind around the idea of his body put to use in such a way. He never expected that this was how he would be deemed useful. It frightened him; he had such a limited understanding of the subject.

He did know that vampires liked to mix their feedings with pleasure. It was why brothels and courtesan houses were so numerous in vampire territories. Jun may have been extremely sheltered, but he wasn’t completely ignorant about the duties associated with those particular establishments. He and his brothers would sometimes talk about them during their burgeoning puberty years when all things sex intrigued them.

However, he wasn’t sure exactly what it meant to be a “pet” or a “thrall.” Given the context of the prince’s words, he supposed some vampires kept these slaves for personal use.

A cold shiver ran down Juniper’s spine. Shouldn’t he be grateful that he wasn’t going to be executed? He didn’t know the specifics of what was in store for him, but Jun really wanted to live. Willow’s school books had taught him about the laws regarding the regulation and treatment of slaves. According to such laws, he would at least be fed well, and he shouldn’t be recklessly abused.

His thoughts were beginning to overwhelm him. He wasn’t sure what time it was or even if it was the same day of his discovery. Juniper was so weary, but how could he rest with such tormenting thoughts in his mind? 

He decided to sing. Even though the root of his current plight was his own singing, he needed his mother’s lullabies—to at least feel some remnant of her comfort. He chose one that she had made up herself, just for him. It was a sweet melody but sung in a minor key, reflecting the underlying sadness his mother always felt.

Sleep now, my child, 

safe in my arms.

I will protect you, keep you from harm.

You are my treasure,

precious and dear.

Let me erase your worry and fear.

Hear my voice singing;

Feel my heart beat.

Show me your smile, gentle and sweet.

Remember the sunshine,

glowing and warm.

The light of your laughter, calming the storm.

Deep in your dreams,

you don’t need to hide.

Beautiful blue eyes, stay by my side.

Beautiful blue eyes, stay by my side.

Jun couldn’t stop the tears from escaping his eyes nor the quiver in his voice as the song came to an end. He was going to miss his family so much. Those were his last thoughts before sleep overtook him.

* * *

Prince Isaac sank his fangs into the slender neck perfectly in time with a finishing thrust in. Nourishing blood filled his mouth as his cum filled the slave’s hole. The youth came too, unable to hold back when the vampire’s fangs pierced his skin.

Isaac pulled out, licked the bite wound to heal it, and then he let go of the spent slave to crumple forward onto the bed. He tucked himself back inside his still immaculate suit as the boy lay panting—his expression dazed from overwhelming pleasure.

The prince walked over to a cabinet and poured himself a glass of wine. He noticed that no expense had been spared for his accommodations. He was staying in the guest room of the head overseer’s house. Though quaint compared to Palace Black in the capital, it was acceptable lodging for the middle of nowhere.

Prince Isaac made his way to a plush armchair with wine glass in hand and sat. He sighed heavily and leaned back, trying to allow his body to relax. He took a sip of the deep crimson drink. Even after fucking and feeding from the provided bed slave, his body refused to unwind. The heady wine wasn’t helping, either.

He couldn’t get a particular doe-eyed slave out of his mind, a fact which vexed him. He had been surprised to learn the boy was blind, though he suspected when he gazed directly into his eyes.

It hadn’t made him any less alluring. The boy piqued the detached prince’s interest, and the impaired eyes made him even more of a curiosity.

Isaac had been tense and strained since the boy stood naked and trembling before him during the medical examination. His skin was so pale—flawless. He enjoyed seeing his slender curves, coral-colored nipples erect from the chill, and rounded ass that would be oh-so malleable beneath his palm. The youth looked deliciously innocent. The vampire prince wanted to defile him.

His cock started to swell again.

The boy was lovely, yes, but it was unlike the prince to devote his thoughts and time to a mere human. There was no shortage of beautiful slaves at home, all well-bred highbloods—his own thrall among them. Maybe it was simply the unusual circumstances surrounding the boy that caused him to linger in his mind.

He didn’t like wasting his time on human matters. He had just secured the title of Crown Prince over his brother. The king, his sire, was nearing four hundred years old, and his vampiric strength would soon begin to dwindle as he entered his final century.

Prince Isaac had duties to attend to while preparing to inherit the throne within the next ten to twenty years. He should be immersed in documents and reports, getting work done, not dwelling on the blue-eyed boy and trying to fuck away the thoughts of him.

Speaking of which… a soft groan pulled his attention back to the bed. He had nearly forgotten the slave was still there. He noted the youth’s steady breathing and so determined he had recovered enough.

“You may leave.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” came the meek reply. The slave moved his sore body off the bed and efficiently put his clothes back on. He masked his limp expertly as he exited the room—used to this manner of dismissal.

Prince Isaac headed for the shower. Maybe that would work better than the wine. He entered the ensuite and stripped off his suit, piece by piece, revealing his broad, inhuman body.

Once under the water, he groaned as the steamy spray massaged his sinewy muscles. The water rushed over taut, rippled flesh to his still-straining length. The prince reached down and stroked himself, unabashedly thinking about all the depraved things he wanted to do to the innocent blind boy.

It didn’t take long before he finished, his spend mixing with the water and disappearing down the drain. He finally felt his body ease somewhat.

After wrapping himself in a silken black robe, Prince Isaac refreshed his wine glass. He settled back in the armchair and reached for the pad on the side table. The slave needed to be checked on, the prince decided. He accessed the security cameras in the holding cells and found the one that housed the slave known as Juniper.

The youth was lying on the bed. Isaac noted the full plate of food on the side table—for some reason, this irritated him. Then he detected soft whimpering sounds. Was the boy crying?

The vampire recalled how the boy’s eyes had filled with tears when he touched his bruised cheek in the car. The effect on his ice-blue eyes was dazzling. He wondered how they would look, teary and gazing up at him while sucking on his cock…

What was this slave doing to him? He snapped himself out of his diverting thoughts. Just then, the boy’s soft voice carried through the pad. He had begun singing. The little melody was hauntingly beautiful. His lilting voice was captivating, evoking a shiver in the prince. This little slave had a strange power.

The lullaby faded away, and it appeared he had fallen asleep. Prince Isaac chuckled. The boy had sung himself to sleep. How cute.

Just then, a notification sound dinged.

Juniper’s blood test results were in. With anticipation, not typically felt by the vampire prince, he accessed the slave’s file on the pad. Isaac’s eyes widened in surprise. Perhaps the human was worth his time after all.